Relias Professional Standards and Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A healthcare worker discovers a colleague is falsifying patient documentation. What is the most appropriate first action?
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Report the behavior through the facility's established reporting mechanism (Correct answer)
- Confront the colleague publicly during shift
- Document the incident in the patient's chart yourself
Correct answer: Report the behavior through the facility's established reporting mechanism
Falsifying documentation is a serious ethical and legal violation that must be reported through proper organizational channels.
Question 2: Which principle of healthcare ethics refers to the obligation to do good and act in the patient's best interest?
- Autonomy
- Justice
- Beneficence (Correct answer)
- Nonmaleficence
Correct answer: Beneficence
Beneficence is the ethical principle requiring healthcare providers to act in ways that promote patient well-being.
Question 3: A patient refuses a recommended blood transfusion due to religious beliefs. The care team should:
- Administer the transfusion anyway to save the patient's life
- Document the refusal and seek an alternative treatment plan respecting the patient's wishes (Correct answer)
- Request a psychiatric evaluation since the decision seems irrational
- Discharge the patient immediately for noncompliance
Correct answer: Document the refusal and seek an alternative treatment plan respecting the patient's wishes
Competent adults have the right to refuse treatment even when the decision may harm them, and clinicians must document and honor that refusal.
Question 4: What does HIPAA's minimum necessary standard require?
- Sharing all patient information with any treating provider
- Disclosing only the minimum amount of PHI needed to accomplish the intended purpose (Correct answer)
- Requiring patients to sign a waiver before any disclosure
- Encrypting all electronic health records
Correct answer: Disclosing only the minimum amount of PHI needed to accomplish the intended purpose
The minimum necessary standard limits PHI disclosures to what is reasonably needed for the specific purpose.
Question 5: A nurse is offered a gift by a grateful patient's family after discharge. The most appropriate response is to:
- Accept it privately so the family does not feel rejected
- Accept small gifts under $25 as a professional courtesy
- Decline and explain the facility's policy on gifts (Correct answer)
- Report the family for attempting to bribe staff
Correct answer: Decline and explain the facility's policy on gifts
Most healthcare facilities have policies restricting or prohibiting acceptance of gifts to avoid conflicts of interest or perceived favoritism.
Question 6: Which of the following best describes 'scope of practice'?
- The geographic area in which a clinician is licensed to work
- The procedures, actions, and processes a healthcare professional is permitted to perform based on their licensure and training (Correct answer)
- The number of patients a clinician can legally treat per shift
- The policies set by a hospital's administration for patient care
Correct answer: The procedures, actions, and processes a healthcare professional is permitted to perform based on their licensure and training
Scope of practice defines what tasks and responsibilities are authorized for a clinician based on education, licensure, and competency.
Question 7: When a healthcare professional acts outside their defined scope of practice, the primary risk is:
- Reduced insurance premiums
- Potential harm to the patient and legal/professional consequences for the provider (Correct answer)
- Faster patient recovery due to expanded care
- Improved interdisciplinary collaboration
Correct answer: Potential harm to the patient and legal/professional consequences for the provider
Practicing outside one's scope can result in patient harm, malpractice liability, and disciplinary action including license revocation.
Relias Professional Standards and Ethics 2
A healthcare worker discovers a colleague is falsifying patient documentation.
What is the most appropriate first action?